Monday, January 26, 2015

Ryu Ramen and Curry with the Balikbayans

The whole month of November was a whirlwind of events, and it passed by so quickly. It was the month when my parents came home to visit us from Milan, Italy. Of course our excitements were uncontainable, how could we not get over giddy as we know we'd have loads of "pasalubong."

It was also a visit full of memorable dining experiences with them and for that I really had to say, my Papa's wallet was crying for all the expenses, nevertheless, it was an occasion deserving for such. After all, their time in Manila is short and keeping up with relatives and friends is way harder for their work-occupied lives.

Here is a collage of some of our purveying.

With that, there is one restaurant I chose to reflect on to. It was Bhogs and I's first time to dine with both my parents at a ramen joint. Though they weren't accustomed to eating ramen, they were game for the challenge.

After accompanying them to Makati to fix and pay their dues, we ended up at the spanking new SM Jazz Mall. I gingerly guided my mom to the menu standee at the door and she said it was time to try new stuff so we entered in.

The minimal and modern feel of the restaurant fits my mama and papa's liking. They have been living and working in Italy almost half their lives and old-world Italian design was so regular to them, ah and how envious of me for that, so the Zen-like experience is so pleasing for them.

Inside, where everything is so slick and clean-looking is evident of a true Japanese culture. But what was striking was the only wall decor present and it was a huge one, spanning the whole ride side of the venue. It was a wall painting of a dragon.

I looked for the meaning of "ryu" in Google and gave me English interpretations such as a boy's name, a boy or a gang of boys. However there is this one site talking about a ryu or a dragon. There have been probably a legend of a dragon that goes with the name "Ryu".

Now for the menu.

It took us a while to order because both of them are hungry diabetics, but they do love noodles so they ordered tantamens, including me.

Bhogs, however ordered curry. Ever since we tried Eri Curry at Megamall, we have been in love with Japanese curry. So he gets to try a different version here at RYU. According to him the savory curry sauce of the Tori Karaage Curry (P 380) is milder on spiciness as compared to the previous he had. The serving was also huge for him, well, it needed more rice actually as the plate was sauce-filled to the brim.

What's in the sauce? The Japanese curry is actually patterned to the Westerner's palate so it was not overly spicy unlike India's, it was rightly thickened and spiced up dearly with a hint of sweetness.
It has all the veggies that typically goes into every curry dish (well I guess that's also the way I prepare my Chicken Curry at home), it has onions, potatoes and carrots.

Tantanmen is a Chinese Sichuan noodle dish, which had became very popular in Japan. Tan Tan which may come from "Dan Dan" lamian was originally from Shanghai. There are many tantanmen restaurants in Japan and some ramen houses serve it as well, maybe because tantanmen is much easier than making ramen soup—and tastes great!

So to say the least, it's a mix of Japanese Ramen and Sichuan style noodles. Some may say that the soup base is the miso with addition of chili and Chinese spices. The reddish soup is a colorful sign of how spicy it is. Ryu's version is a complete meal in itself, as the noodles are carb heavy, with earthy soup plus the adornment of vegetables and lastly, an accompaniment of choice meat.

They have five varieties when we visited them, though we were only able to try three of them. On the above photo is my Karaage Tantanmen. The gorgeous balled and crusted chicken meat on top gives it a quirky twist. I was also surprised that it was still crunchy yet soft on the inside, even though it had been soaked in the broth for a while.

My Mama's Yaki Buta Tantanmen. Same noodles and broth but with savory with a hint of smokiness of the tender pork ribs

Sliced roast pork belly this time was topped, and it's for my Papa. It's the Classic Tantanmen.

You can inspect that the serving bowl was huge and its a serving for one only.

I was happy with one of the best decision I made when the topic is about "where do we eat?"

About Me

A foodie, a mom to four. a wife, a baker, a business owner and a friend to many!
Method to my madness:
1. Frequent visits to places I love.
2. Fill up my home with lovely memories were eating is the medium.
3. Write my mind out!
For collabs, inquiries and reviews you may email me at gastronomybyjoy@yahoo.com or send me an SMS at 632 9176318186